Few great movie film sequences have ever captured the sheer romance of flying more evocatively than those featuring this very De Havilland Gipsy Moth which so characterise renowned Director Sidney Pollack's wonderful 1985 title, 'Out of Africa'. Based upon the eponymous book, first published in 1937 by authoress 'Isak Dinesen'  the pseudonym of the Danish prime character, Karen Blixen  the movie took seven Academy Award 'Oscars' amongst its total of no fewer than 28 international accolades.

Of course, the gorgeously-proportioned De Havilland Gipsy Moth is itself unsurpassed as being so charismatic and aesthetically attractive. This was one of the most successful of all the legendary Geoffrey de Havilland's designs that did so much to bring private aviation within reach of the capable enthusiast with relatively modest means.

This individual machine now offered here  'G-AAMY'  is the actual aircraft which contemporary owner Cliff Lovell made available to Universal Pictures for their production of 'Out of Africa' during March, 1985.

The aircraft is a metal-framed De Havilland Gipsy Moth built originally by the Moth Aircraft Corporation of America in 1929. It was one of the first  if not the first  American Moth to be brought to the UK and it flew for a time in the UK whilst still on its US registration 'N585M'. It was subsequently British registered as 'G-AAMY' in May 1980.

The movie itself told the story of Danish Countess Karen von Blixen (played by Meryl Streep) and her relationship with English adventurer and flyer Denys Finch-Hatton (portrayed by Robert Redford). Cliff Lovell completely overhauled the engine installed in 'G-AAMY' prior to the filming which was scheduled to take place on location in West Africa.

The aircraft was dismantled and shipped in two crates to Frankfurt, from where it was flown inside a German Cargo DC8 to Nairobi. There  towards the end of February, 1985  'G-AAMY' was reassembled and re-rigged ready for a hectic schedule of flying for Universal's cameras. In order to avoid confusion with the sister aircraft which had been used in the 1930s by British aviatrix Amy Johnson, 'G-AAMY' was re-lettered as 'G-AAMT' for the filming. In fact the real Denys Finch-Hatton's original Gipsy Moth had been registered 'G-ABAK' during the period of his genuine relationship in East Africa with Karen Blixen  a suitably elegant aircraft indeed for such an elegant contemporary couple...

Flying for the movie commenced from Nairobi's Wilson Airport with 'G-AAMY' offered here being flown on the warm Kenyan thermals by Cliff Lovell himself and by Danish-born fellow pilot Jens Hassel. Shooting was conducted above the Mount Kenya and Lake Naivasha National Parks, and the world-famous Masai Mara and Ambrose Game Reserves.

Despite the obvious difficulties of operating an aircraft of this vintage from the altitude of Wilson Airport  8,800 feet above seal level  both producer Terry Clegg and Director Sidney Pollack were thrilled with the quality of the images being recorded by aerial cameraman Peter Allwork, operating in an escorting Jet Ranger helicopter.

Thus encouraged, 'G-AAMY' was then taken to Tanzania's Serengeti Game Park in order to capture aerial shots above the annual migration of the gigantic wildebeeste herds. Ferry flying from Nairobi involved four intermediate landings, yielding further footage of this exquisite 'Gipsy' against the majestic backdrop of Mount Kilimanjaro. Mirror-image footage capturing this wonderful biplane flying low over the waters of Lake Manyari remains truly memorable.

After this epic series of spectacular flights in Tanzanian airspace, 'G-AAMY' returned to Nairobi, and subsequently swopped back down to sea level and the Indian Ocean beach at Ukunda for what were described as 'magic moment' shots.

After being shipped back to the UK, 'G-AAMY' was then re-erected within Shepperton Studios for close-up sequence shooting, before being again dismantled and returned to Walkeridge Farm to be re-covered before once more assuming her 'civilian' role. In all she had completed some 120 hours of filming for 'Out of Africa'.

When the story of flying for the film was related by specialist Ian Callier, he observed that 'G-AAMY' had been flown "...largely over terrain where a forced landing was out of the question; a tribute to the simplicity and reliability of the Moth and its Gipsy engine...".

This aircraft was acquired in first-rate condition by its former owner  prominent Moth exponent Roger Fiennes (who had been one of a trio to fly Tiger Moths from London to Moscow) - in the late 1980s. 'G-AAMY' was then acquired by its present owner in the early 1990s and been both widely used and fastidiously maintained.

The De Havilland company began manufacture of Major Frank Halford's legendary DH Gipsy aero engine in 1927, and production variants began to power versions of the DH60G Gipsy Moth from 1928. That July saw Captain Geoffrey de Havilland himself reach the record altitude of 21,000 feet in his private example  'G-AAA'  and one month later company test pilot Hubert Broad flew for 24 hours over the company's base at Stag Lane Aerodrome, Edgware, North London, in a sister machine. When under observed conditions the DH Reserve School instructors flew another Gipsy Moth for 600 hours  equivalent to a distance of no less than 51,000 miles  with an ultimate replacement and service cost amounting to just £7 2s 11d, 'everyman' aviation really did seem to have arrived!

These achievements had tremendous impact upon the aviation world and whereas the earlier models had sold in dozens, the Gipsy Moth would be built in hundreds. The Vicomte de Sibour took his on a world tour, and Amy Johnson's example  'Jason'  completed the first-ever England-to-Australia solo flight to be accomplished by a woman pilot. Sir Francis Chichester's machine, 'Madame Elijah', completed the first male-piloted Gipsy Moth flight over that same route, and so these wonderfully useable beauties of the air went on to play an enormous role in the development of private aviation.

Aircraft such as 'G-AAMY' offered here proved their stamina and robustness spotting whales in the Artic wastes and exploring for oil in the sun-baked vastness of the Middle East. Production of the wooden Gipsy Moth in Great Britain continued until 1934, totaling some 595 examples.

But production under licence was also undertaken by De Havilland associates in Australia, France, and the United States of America. 'G-AAMY' offered here was one of the American Moths, and it is a DH60GM model, with metal frame in place of wood, better  as they said at the time  "...to resist the unwanted attention of termites in tropical climes...".

In its present ownership this wonderfully charismatic example of 1920s biplane technology at its finest, yet most accessible, has appeared in flying displays and in aerial rallies and on straightforward touring flights throughout Europe, the UK and  most notably  in New Zealand in 2004. It has been operated by a hugely experienced professional pilot, himself a former Royal Netherlands Air Force fighter pilot and subsequent KLM airliner Captain, and technically maintained by the recognised De Havilland specialist Henry Labouchere or Norfolk, England.

As now offered here, 'G-AAMY' has a permit to fly valid until July 13, 2013, when its next inspection will become due. It has recorded 235 hours since zero after its last major overhaul and 48 hours since an engine top-end rebuild was completed in 2011  the engine is a Wright Aeronautical Corp. Gipsy L-320, with Sensenich 84D52 propeller. This included replacement cylinder heads, cast new, since completion of which work the aircraft has performed perfectly. It has in fact been flown regularly and will continue to do so until the auction date. Perhaps most significantly, 'G-AAMY' successfully completed a series of summer airshows in France this past year and it was greeted everywhere with admiration  "...the people loved it, especially the elegant shape compared to the later airplanes" as its regular pilot relates.

This is a wonderfully useable classic two-seat biplane aircraft. It brings with it all the nostalgic joy of flying through that so-atmospheric period of the late-1920s into the early-1930s  and added to this must be the romantic cachet of its starring role in 'Out of Africa', surely worthy of an extra Oscar, to match those of its former occupants, Meryl Streep, and Robert Redford...

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